The Perplexing Tales of Ariana Bradley
by benevolent-wolf
Summary: Ariana Bradley, from the time when she was a child, has seen some strange things. Metal men attacking in the dead of night, gifts of fezzes, and a strange men who are actually one... Abnormal coincidences, no? Perhaps. Or perhaps the pathways to a new exciting adventure.
1. Chapter 1

The covers were pulled tighter over the little girl's head. "Please… please go away! I'm scared!" She waited a few more seconds before peeking out from under the blanket. The big metal man still stood there. The child hid herself once again.

"You will come with me."

The bedroom door was closed. Mum was asleep in the bedroom down the hall. The girl was alone with this scary man who had somehow gotten into her room and wanted to take her away. But the child still called out into the darkness. "Someone help me, please!"

The man stepped closer, reaching his big hand out toward the girl. The child closed her eyes tight, tears running down her face. This was it. She was going to be taken by this big alien man.

Suddenly, the window beside her bed shattered, and another man jumped into the room and onto the frightening metal monster. The robot man fell to the floor.

"Don't worry, Ariana!" The second man who'd entered the room called to the little girl. "I have this under control!"

Ariana gasped as she watched the monster and the man fight. The robot tried to push the man off of itself, but the man stayed on the robot, pulling out a magic wand, glowing green at the end and making a whirring sound, and sticking it on the robot man's chest. The robot shouted, then became very quiet.

The real man stood up. Ariana laughed at the red bow tie around his neck and the strange cap upon his head. "Alright, Ariana. Don't worry about that big monster. He won't be finding you anymore."

The little girl shied away from her rescuer, returning to underneath her blanket.

"You don't have to be afraid! I'm not gonna hurt you."

Ariana's eyes peeked out once again. "Who are you?"

The man grinned. "My name is the Doctor."

"Doctor what?"

The Doctor shrugged and sat down on the child's bed. "Just the Doctor. Everyone always asks that. Why do they always ask that?"

Ariana came out from her covers. "Well, you have to be a doctor of something!"

"I don't know what I'm a doctor of, though."

"I think," the girl folded her hands in her lap as she sat up. "you should be called the 'Brave Doctor'."

The Doctor sighed. "Brave? You think I'm brave?"

"Yes you are!" Ariana exclaimed. "You stopped that scary metal man! That was really brave!"

A corner of the man's mouth upturned. "You really think so?"

"Yes! I do!" The girl wrapped her arms around her hero. "You're my Brave Doctor."

The "Brave Doctor" returned the embrace. "Thank you."

Suddenly, the metal robot on the floor disappeared in a flash of blue light. Ariana squeaked. The Doctor stroked his chin.

"Strange. I thought I deactivated him. He must have teleported to the main ship."

Ariana clung to her Doctor. "Is he going to come back?"

The man frowned. "...No. No, he's gone. He's not going to come back."

"Are you lying?"

The Doctor tilted his head. His eyes darted to the left briefly. "No. No, I'm not lying. He's gone forever."

"Will you stay with me, Brave Doctor? Will you stay with me forever?"

The man wrapped his arms once again around Ariana. "No, I can't. I have to go."

The girl bit her lip. "Do you have to go now?"

"No. I can stay for a little."

Ariana laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"You say 'no' a lot!"

"No, I- oh, bother."

The young girl giggled all the more, and yawned. The Doctor's hearts skipped a beat, and he stood from the bed, laying Ariana down and tucking her in. "Good night, Ariana."

"Are you going to forget me, my Brave Doctor?"

The man shook his head. "I'm never going to forget you, Ariana Bradley."

"How do you know my name?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Er, I suppose we've met before."

"When?"

"Not sure. Maybe in the future."

The girl laughed once again. "Then how could we have met before if you met me in the future?"

Now it was the Doctor's turn to chuckle. "Time has a funny way of working, sometimes. ...Okay, a lot of the time." The man turned to the window, preparing to leave, but he stopped. "Ariana?"

"Yes?"

The Brave Doctor, with one sweep of his hand, took the red hat off of his head and set it gently on top of Ariana's tousled blonde hair. "It's a fez. Fezzes are cool. Never forget that."

The girl smiled. "This is the best present ever. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Ariana."

"I'm never ever going to forget you, my Brave Doctor."

The Doctor sighed. "And I'm never ever going to forget you, Ariana Bradley."

Ariana turned over in her bed and closed her eyes. A whirring sound came from the window. The child looked back around to see if her rescuer was still beside her. She frowned.

All that was left behind was a newly-fixed glass pane.

A tear slipped down the girl's cheek for her lost friend, but then the window creaked, as if opening.

In popped the Brave Doctor once again. "Oh, by the way, happy birthday!"


	2. Chapter 2

"So, waiting for your Brave Doctor this year?" The red-haired girl smiled at her friend as they strolled down the London street.

Ariana rolled her eyes. "Miranda, please, you ask me this every birthday!"

"Well, are you?"

"No! Well…"

Miranda sighed. "Do you really think he's out there? Somewhere?"

The blonde shook her head. "Oh, yes, and he's giving everyone fezzes and bow ties."

"You really don't believe?"

Ariana shrugged, becoming a bit annoyed in having the same conversation on the same day every year. "I don't know, Miranda! I don't even know if that night was a dream or not!"

"But you still have the fez! That has to hold some proof!"

"Proof for what? What if Dad got it for me?"

The ginger halted, stopping her friend with her by a hand on Ariana's shoulder. "Ari, he disappeared when you were five. You would have noticed that fez before your seventh birthday!"

"And what if I didn't?" The blonde threw her hands into the air. "Who's to say I didn't just forget about it?"

"And suddenly remember it on your seventh birthday and keep it with you at all times since then? That's terribly improbable, Ariana."

"Terribly improbable does not mean impossible." The blonde's nose stuck upward a bit.

Miranda crossed her arms, prepared to make another argument, but let out a puff of air. "We're coming up on the cafe. Let's just grab a couple coffees and forget this whole thing."

"Sounds good to me."

Miranda regained her positive disposition. "And it's all on me. It is your birthday."

"Thanks."

"Hey, it's no problem."

The two set aside their differences (for now, at least) and headed toward Speedy's Cafe. But before the girls could get to the door, a large man stepped into their way.

Well, a little more than a large man. More like a towering, brooding, terrifying, large metal man. "Ariana Bradley. You will come with me." Who could speak.

Miranda swallowed. "Is this one of your friends?"

Ari's head drifted from right to left. "'Friend' isn't exactly the word I'd use."

"Oh my gosh." The red-haired girl's eyes widened. "It's him, isn't it? The big metal man."

"Highly probable."

Both girls readied themselves to make a run for it. But Miranda was thrown to the ground and her blonde-haired friend was grabbed around the waist and hoisted into the air.

Ariana screamed.

The ginger turned her head toward the sky as the "big metal man" lit up rockets in the bottoms of his feet (which, had it not been such a serious situation, Miranda would have thought were pretty cool) and soared off into the air. Miranda reached out an arm. "Ariana!"

The blonde girl was frantic. They exist. Oh my gosh, they actually exist! And one's got me! Oh, gosh. Oh, gosh. Tears welled up in Ariana's eyes welled up with tears and the buildings and people below became smaller and smaller. Where is it taking me? What's happening?!

Miranda could only sit on her knees on the sidewalk and gawk. "It wasn't a dream… The metal men actually exist…" Suddenly, an arm slipped under the girl's arm and pulled her gently from the ground. "Huh?"

A man with a black leather jacket (and almost unnaturally large ears protruding from the sides of his head) stood behind Miranda. "There you go."

"Uh," The ginger blinked. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." The man nodded. His eye drifted to the sky, and he lifted up some sort of device (a wand of some sort?). "The Cybermen…"

"The who?"

Big Ears sighed. "They're aliens, from outer space, yes, outer space. Big robot men. And they've just kidnapped your friend, correct?"

"Yeah. But who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor." The man casually saluted and ran off.

Miranda could only attempt to process all the information that had just been given in the matter of twenty seconds. "The Doctor… hold on a second!" A strange man. A magic wand (or whatever it was). If those "Cybermen" existed…

The red-haired girl's thoughts were interrupted when a big blue… box? flew past Miranda into the air toward a gigantic spaceship in the sky (how did she not notice that before?). "Okay… too much weirdness for one day…"

Ariana was dropped onto the metal floor. "Augh!" A shadow towered over her.

"Ariana Bradley."

The blonde made an attempt at a level voice as she looked up at the very human-looking female glaring down at her. "Who are you?"

Ariana noticed the metallic plate covering the left side of her captor's face as the woman replied. "We are the Cybermen. The masters of the universe. We have been watching you for a long time, Ariana Bradley."

"For… how long?"

"Years."

The blonde shook her head. "I only remember you from when I was a child."

"We attempted to capture you then, but were unsuccessful."

Ariana gasped. "My Brave Doctor…"

"He did interfere with our plans. But he will interfere not in this time."

An abrupt crash interrupted the conversation. Out of the blue police box which had flown straight through a window of the ship strode a bold man in a swell-looking leather jacket. "You want to bet?"

The woman scowled. "You were not supposed to find us!"

"Well, I did. And now I'm gonna stop you." The man smirked. "How does that sound?"

A remote was raised into the air. "Well, then, en garde, dear Doctor." The lone button on the remote was pushed. Immediately, dozens of Cybermen stepped into the room, projectile arms prepared to disintegrate the big-eared hero on a single whim.

Ariana shook. This man-the Doctor-was about to be killed by these terrifying monsters.

But the man showed no fear. In fact, he laughed. Despite the dire situation, Ariana could do nothing but smile at this hero who looked danger in the face and let out a hardy chuckle. Who was this merry Doctor?

The Doctor shook his head at the Cybermen surrounding him. "You poor fools." A frown suddenly graced his face, a melancholy expression quickly replacing his former, joyful eyes. "You poor, poor fools. You don't even know what they've done to you." A swallow. The joy began to return. "But don't worry. I'm going to make all of it stop. This pain will soon all be gone."

With what sounded like an ancient war cry from a long-forgotten civilization buried within the recesses of space, the Jolly Doctor raised his magic wand to the air. The wand let out a terrible sound; it felt as if someone was scratching their nails down an old dusty chalkboard. Yet, it had the strange tone of a dolphin's sonar. The auditory sensation was convoluted in almost every way; Ariana could not decipher what exactly this sound was. Pain? Suffering? Peace? Placidity?

The Cybermen fell. All of them. Within a second, dozens upon dozens of big, scary, metal men were dead on the cold floor.

The malevolent woman cried out. "No! My army!" She, as well, fell to the floor of the spaceship and began to mourn these robotic beings.

The Doctor frowned. Shook his head. Walked over to the woman. Pity was in his eyes. Ariana gazed on.

This man had pity on his enemy.

"You don't have to remain like this." The Doctor knelt next to the woman leader of the Cybermen. "You can start anew."

"No. It is too late for me."

"It is never too late."

The woman sobbed. "Redemption for me shall never be found. I am a hopeless being. And I shall be for eternity."

The Doctor shook his head once again. Set his hand on the woman's shoulder. "Eliza. Let me help you. Please."

The woman-Eliza, her name must be-looked up at the Doctor, bearing the same big, sad eyes that the man himself owned. "I'm sorry."

Eliza gripped the metal placement on her face and pulled. And pulled. And screamed.

The Doctor tried to reach out to the woman, but a blast of electric sparks threw him several feet backward.

Ariana clapped her hands over her ears. The torment was almost too much to bear. But in only seconds, the shrieking ceased. The blonde girl slowly stood from her former position to see Eliza, leader of the Cybermen, lying on the ground, the skin on the left half of her face melted, revealing only red. In her cold, dead hand lay the metallic plate that once sat upon her face.

The Doctor wept. Tears flowed freely from his eyes and he sobbed. Ariana wasn't certain how she should react. But her heart led her to walk over to the man, kneel down, and embrace him.

"I'm sorry."

The man stopped crying. Wiping his eyes with a quick final brush of the back of the hand, he turned to Ariana and smiled. "She was a friend. A close friend." A deep breath. "Who are you?"

Ariana's lips curved gently upward. "My name is Ariana Bradley."

The Doctor blinked. His eyes widened. "You're… Ariana Bradley?"

"Y-yes…"

The man grabbed Ariana's shoulders. The girl gasped, a quick reaction to this sudden move. The blonde stared deep into the Doctor's eyes.

And she saw the universe. All of time and space seemed to flood her mind at an alarming rate. Planets, galaxies, rifts, black holes, portals…

Ariana's world went black.


End file.
